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Music Speaks Louder than Words

11/30/2017 09:20:58 AM

Nov30

By Rabbi Segal

Bim bam…  yam bai bai bim biddy bai… yai lai lai lai… ay oh… 

How many of our Shabbat evening services over the years have begun with wordless melodies – niggunim – that include these or other simple sounds?  Have you ever wondered why?  Centuries ago, the early Chasidic sages of our tradition discerned the spiritual truth that, sometimes, words simply get in the way.  Getting stuck on the words can impede one’s capacity to achieve greater spiritual meaning or establish a deeper connection with “something” bigger than ourselves.   Hence, the rabbis taught, allow the music itself to be the catalyst for spiritual growth. 

I imagine the teaching of the sages informed the familiar quote, “Music speaks louder than words,” words set to song and performed by groups such as Peter, Paul & Mary and others over the years:

Music speaks louder than words
It's the only thing that the whole world listens to.
Music speaks louder than words,
When you sing, people understand.

Sometimes the love that you feel inside         
Gets lost between your heart and your mind
And the words don't really say the things you wanted them to.
But then you feel in someone's song
What you'd been trying to say all along
And somehow with the magic of music the message comes through.

The longer I live the more I find that people seldom take the time
To really get to know a stranger and make him a friend.
But the power of a simple song can make everybody feel they belong.
Maybe singin' and playin' can bring us together again.
Singin' and playin' can bring us together again.

“Music speaks louder than words; it’s the only thing that the whole world listens to…”   “You feel in someone’s song what you’d been trying to say all along, and somehow with the magic of music the message comes through…”    This weekend, we have the opportunity to experience the truth and wisdom of these lyrics as we welcome Jewish and Palestinian Artists-in-Resident, Michael Ochs and Alaa Alshaham to Temple Sinai.   As they lead us in worship, in study, and in a concert on Saturday evening, I pray that the spirit and intention of Michael’s and Alaa’s music might enable each of us to see beyond the unpleasant words that typically cloud our ability, that get in the way, of our ability to truly see and hear one another, and instead give us the opportunity to experience the possibility of something bigger and more beautiful than ourselves.

Thu, March 28 2024 18 Adar II 5784